Day 2- The Impacts on Victims of Crime

There are many impacts on victims of violent crime. Things can affect everything from day to day things to complete character changes.
In the short term, victims can:

• Feel angry or guilty
• Have wages or property loss
• Be re-victimized by the justice system due to reliving the crime against them.

In the long term, the impacts can affect people's personality even further, causing victims to be:

• Stressed
• Paranoid/ Fearful
• Develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Antisocial Behavior
• Loss of Academic Potential
• Continued loss of wages or property for investigation
• Antisocial Behavior
• Continued cycle of violence- depending on gender either re-victimized or using violence on another.

This week we looked at the victims of Crime, and what impacts said crime had on their lives and psyche. We watched a Law and Order: Special Victims called "Closure" about a woman named Harper whom is raped in her home and tells police right away. She is willing to give all the details about the crime and is made to relive it again and again as the police question her. She says that she would be able to identify her attacker when the time came, and hoped that they caught him soon so that she would have peace of mind.

Six months later though, when the police think that they have caught the rapist, they call on Harper at her house and find that she has become paranoid and scared to sleep. She separated from her boyfriend, sleeps with her runners on and has multiple locks on her new apartment door. She reluctantly goes down to the police station to try and identify him, saying that she has had closure on the crime that was commited to her. When the time comes though, she is unable to identify her attacker and has additional trauma knowing that she wouldn't know him if she saw him on the street.

• http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/07/29/18488136.html

Above is a story of a man who was kidnapped, beaten and tortured by 4 men in masks in Calgary. They took him to a warehouse, doused him with gasoline and threatened him at gunpoint. He was later found walking along a road the next day and was helped by a passing stranger. Police believe that this was a crime envolving drug retribution.

This victim would be terribly affected by the threats made towards him, although they would be a little different than Harper, mainly because he is male. In Harper's case, she would have trouble holding onto a job and having relationships because the trust she may have had for others is diminished. But in the case of this man who was kidnapped and beaten, he may be more prone to continue violence to someone else in the future. This may be because of this crime on him or becuase of his envolvement in drug deals, or both. He is likely to now live in fear, and that may translate to carrying weaponry with him to protect himself rather than wearing runners to bed like Harper. Both may have experienced antisocial behavior or PTSD.

Lessening the impacts on victims in the justice system is a tough thing to do. On the one hand, to protect the current or future victims, said victim must recall the events to help the police catch the suspect, especially if they are the only witness. On the other hand, this is very rough on the victim because they must relive the crime against them. This is especially tough on rape victims because it is so personal and they are likely the only witness. There could be a law made that alleged victims must only retell events to one set of persons, and make sure it is recorded for future.
When the victim must testify, they are often made to feel guilty by the oposing side of the investigation. Possibly there could be a way of trialing victims more gently, maybe having a closed court or some guidlines for lawyers when interogating alleged victims on trial.
In the short term, therapy or counselling can be useful, but cannot always resolve all the issues a victim may suffer from. In some cases, victims or family members that are allowed to talk to the alleged attacker may help resolve baggage a victim has, although this may not apply to rape victims.